Eclipsis

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A phenomenon where celestial bodies obscure one another through alignment
2. a linguistic term denoting the omission of a letter or syllable in speech or writing
3. the act or instance of overshadowing or eclipsing something in significance or presence

Etymology: Ancient Greek speakers used "ékleipsis" for something that vanished or was left behind: the disappearance of a heavenly body, the failure of a supply, or the abandoning of a position. The same root gave us "eclipse," and the two English words are doublets, meaning they came into the language by different routes from one source. "Eclipse" arrived through Old French, while "eclipsis" was taken directly from Greek by scholars who wanted a precise technical label. That scholarly purpose explains the narrower sense. In grammar and rhetoric, "eclipsis" names the dropping of a sound, letter or syllable that would normally be expected, so the form seems to have been swallowed. The meaning stays close to the Greek idea of something disappearing from view, now applied to a missing sound rather than a missing sun or moon.